State disaster funds likely to be restored

George Raine, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, June 8, 1995

1995-06-08 04:00:00 PDT UNITED STATES; CALIFORNIA -- The nearly $7 billion in disaster relief for California and other states contained in a bill vetoed by President Clinton will almost certainly be restored, but Republicans seized the opportunity to remind the president of the political risks.

"I think it is a real slap at California, and this after (Clinton) met face to face with the victims of the Northridge quake," said Rep. David Dreier, R-Covina.

"It's not going to be forgotten, and I will continue to remind people of this as we head toward the election."

In his first veto, Clinton refused Wednesday to approve $16.4 billion in spending cuts from existing programs that had been crafted by the Republican majority in Congress. The measure also contained a host of appropriations, including about $5 billion for damage caused by the Northridge earthquake and $725 million for California flood relief.

The bill also contained money to replace the federal building destroyed in the Oklahoma City bombing.

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In a Rose Garden ceremony Wednesday, Clinton described the bill's cuts in education, anti-crime and environmental programs as "terrible policy."

He urged Congress to restore funds for some of his top priorities - the AmeriCorps national service program, education reforms, drug prevention, development banks for poor communities and clean drinking water. He said greater cuts could be made in courthouse and highway construction, foreign aid and tax loopholes.

Defending deficit reduction&lt;

Republicans, in turn, said the president was turning his back on deficit reduction.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., said: "We're going to rewrite it, we're going to pass it a second time. If he wants to run for re-election, he ought to run in favor of a balanced budget, not vetoing the balanced budget. . . . I think it's sad to see the president vetoing aid to California, vetoing aid to Oklahoma City."

California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both Democrats, went along with the Republican-crafted plan for spending cuts, largely because the legislation contained relief money for California. They were two of only eight Democrats who supported it.

Feinstein's press secretary, Susan Kennedy, said Wednesday: "The senator really regrets the veto. She thinks the money (for relief) will come back one way or another, but she does not like playing with the disaster relief money."

Boxer said the veto reflected "a small disagreement," and suggested that a compromise could be hammered out.

The money earmarked for California was to be passed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for victims recovering from the Southern California earthquake and this winter's floods.

A Democratic congressional source said Wednesday that he expected the money to be restored in some other bill before it was urgently needed, and FEMA said it had enough reserve funds for regions needing disaster assistance through August.

"We ran out of money two or three times during Loma Prieta, and nothing happened," the Democratic source said of FEMA money during the 1989 Bay Area earthquake disaster. "There's a lag time between outstanding requests and obligations, but the Republicans will still try to stick it to Clinton."

"Not friendly to California'&lt;

"The president has not been friendly to California, but we're trying to find some grounds for compromise," said Dave LeStrang, spokesman for Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands. "As far as we're concerned, a new bill will be delivered as quickly as possible."

Dreier said the vetoed measure contained other GOP-backed amendments directly affecting California: the elimination of dual compliance for businesses of federal and state clean air laws, transportation funds for Bay Area systems and pro-logging measures in Northwest forests. Clinton particularly objected to the timber provision, which would lift all environmental review of timber salvaging in national forests for three years.

Republicans considered, but then abandoned, the idea of attempting a veto override, which requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers. Dreier said the GOP caucus thought Clinton would have no problem finding 146 House members to sustain the veto.

Dreier predicted that a new spending cut bill would be written - one more palatable to Clinton - and, he said, "I hope the California money comes back." &lt;